No support for some `thousands' of families

Thousands of vulnerable families are probably not getting the supports they need, according to the director of childcare at Barnardos.

Ms Grainne Burke estimates that there are hundreds and probably thousands of young families where the parent or parents cannot cope, who need help and support in bringing up children and who are not getting it.

Such an environment is regarded as conducive to abuse, which can be either physical, sexual, emotional, neglect or a combination. At greater risk are children living in households marked by poverty and ignorance.

Provisional figures for 1998 from the Department of Health and Children indicate that the most prevalent form of child abuse in that year was neglect, with 4,407 reported cases and 1,649 confirmed.

The highest number of confirmed cases of neglect was in the North Eastern Health Board region, with 369.

Physical abuse ranked second, with 738 confirmed cases nationally. The Eastern Health Board region had the highest number, with 249 confirmed cases.

Some 3,984 children were taken into care in 1998, the largest number coming from lone-parent families (1,537).

There were 1,024 children from families headed by a married couple and fewer from families headed by separated married couples, cohabiting couples and widows or widowers.

The most common reason for a child being taken into care was neglect (1,064), followed by parents unable to cope (1,059), drugs/alcohol abuse (603), physical abuse (252), sexual abuse (242), child with emotional/ behavioural problems (179), child abandoned (150) or emotional abuse (147).

According to sources in the child protection services in the Eastern Regional Health Authority, social and community care workers are vastly over stretched with case loads allowing often for only cursory surveillance of vulnerable children.

A spokeswoman for the ERHA, however, said spending on the protection of vulnerable children increased in 1999 by £1 million.

"This went on the recruitment of 23 extra staff and the expansion of family support services," she said.

There were 250 social workers working with children and families in the ERHA area, she added.